I have become a complete convert to this new semi-hydroponic system (for me) and I find it works cleanly and evenly. Some hoyas I have found like to grow in this system as well. OK...so basically, here is a photo of what I use as a mix: there are the expanded clay pellets I buy called Hydroton (used in growing Hydroponics). Since it is really expensive over here, I add #4 perlite and black cinders to make it go further...
OK...I have used two systems very successfully: one is individually with my mix in a plastic cup with holes burned about 2" up from the bottom. The water above the holes escapes, leaving a well of water in the bottom. The mixture wicks the moisture UP and the roots grow to seek the water. I know Doug talked about this method.
Here is the cutting I took out of the plastic cup.
Here is the same 'concept' used differently: the cuttings are in individual small pots with stand in a large saucer of water...and as water will seek it's own level, the level of the water is the same in the small pots as well. I add water into the saucer and that way the pots don't get really wet...just wet enough to root the cuttings.
Recently I struck a bunch of cuttings in the same pot....again the same concept as above.... here is the pot, without potting medium, in the saucer with water. This is the level of the water in the pot when all the medium and the cuttings are in it. I fill the pot with the Hydroton mix and stick the cuttings in. Yes, I dip them in Hormex or Rootone. I mist all of the newly struck cuttings with a very very weak fertilizer solution at least once a day. With our cool nights, these saucers sit on heatmats set at 73deg and I probably have to add water to the saucers every 2 days.
I do find that when I use the cup with the holes to create a water well, I have to add water from the top, and this isn't good for some hoyas like H. linearis which really prefers to get the water from the bottom. I don't know why.
After I use the mix for rooting, I wash it in Physan and add it to my regular mix depending upon the hoya I am potting up. Some, like Kloppenbergii, really like this very airy light mix.
Carol,
The great thing about your second method, which I've thought about but haven't tried yet, is that you need no special pot or cup with holes burned into it - any old pot will do. All you have to do is keep your tray filled with water. Also, for people like me that live in a very dry environment, the trays with water would help add some much needed humidity to the air.
Doug
Great pics and descriptions Carol! You're such a great teacher.
I too am a hydroton convert, and am having great success with it. My rooting method is a bit different though. I use the same method as in your second picture with the clear plastic cup, only the container I put that cup in I keep filled with water until I see roots through the plastic. I then let the water naturally evaporate down to a sustainable level, and am now experimenting with growing them in the semi-hydro environment. In some cases (H. glabra, H. compacta), with amazing success, others, not so much, but it is the dead of winter here so I'm not too worried, as not much is growing anyway. I fertilize very lightly and very sparingly until I have established roots though.
Christine
Carol...you're such a great teacher. I will be converting some of my plants to hydro and semi-hydro using the second method which will suit my current growing system. Which hoyas would you say benefit most from these mediums?
I found a store in the area that carries the clay balls as well as silica stone and Higromite (mined from volcanic deposits colonized by protozoa in freshwater lakes millions of years ago). Any experiences or feedback with either of these alternatives? My plan is to purchase all three and do a comparison of each with the same cuttings same pots and conditions etc. I will photograph each method and report as the cuttings progress into plants..should be fun and educational.
Joni
I have H. linearis rooting in both methods and where the pot sits in a little bowl of water has been MOST successful. The container with the holes is not so successful as I have to wet everything to get the reservoir filled...but I will use Christine's method and put it in a bowl of water.
I also received a NOID 'end of the plant' from a friend who could not get it to grow...and I put it in the Hydroton and it is growing.
Since our conditions are all different, I would say that any plant you are having the devil of a time with because the roots keep rotting would be a candidate...as the rotting usually is an issue with water, too much or not enough and this method give the plant a choice to be where it is comfortable.
I am not familiar with any of your other new mediums, Joni... we are so limited in what is available here.
BTW, I have also taken fairly large plants where the roots are almost gone and have put them in this medium and the plant recovers very well sending out more roots easily.
Christine, where do you find the Hydroton?
One of the benefits of living in a more populated area...it'd probably cost a small mint to ship.
I pay 35$ for that big bag. They do make it in smaller 1 or 2 gal. bags...not that heavy, really in the small bags... that's why I 'cut' it with Perlite...and the perlite doesn't glom together to make cement.
If you transplant an ailing plant into Hydroton, Carol, do you remove all the dying/dead roots first....or indeed all the roots, and completely re root it from scratch?
Dom
Sort of OT, but my H kanyakumariana went flying a few weeks ago, ending up ten feet away and with pretty much bare roots since it was nearly dry. I brushed off the rest of the dirt, and potted it up in hydroton completely submerged in water at first, just to get it over the shock of its aviation attempt. After a few days, I lowered the water level to a normal level, and its as if nothing happened, it didn't even lose a leaf. I'm getting more and more impressed with this method.
Christine
GREAT job, Christine...do you grow your kanuka. wet or dry?
Dom - I try to cut away all the rotted stuff, and then dip the remaining in a fungicide (or spray with it), then a rooting hormone and plop the whole thing in. I also cut the stem up as far as I can if there are good roots, to where there is live stem....
The hydroton is great for rolling the bottoms of your feet on, too!!!
Carol
carol,
do you think i can get a bag of landscaping black lava, and bang it around to make smaller pieces. i have a horrible time trying to find hydroponic supplies in the desert. i also wanted to ask where you got your perlite, all i can seem to find is the really fine stuff.
thanks!
I think if you pound the lava it would work....but make sure it's not red rock..it has a lot of iron in it...too much. I buy my stuff at a Nursery Supply place...they sell retail too. You might look online...it is #4 and it doesn't weigh all that much....
If you do a search on ebay, you can find Hydroton in 45 liter bags which weighs about 50 lbs delivered to your door for around $50. The same can be said for Prime-agra.
You must have different Black Lava there Carol...the solid stuff here is like iron.......If crushing or smashing it a pair of goggles might be wise, Ive already ended up at AE with a bit in my eye.... .:)) The Lava we get here for cultivation purpose is the sediment on the top/sides of the volcalnoes, which is thrown out during an eruption, and they mine it without crushing it. Its about the size of Rice Crispies..dont know if you get that cereal in the States
Dom
Would crushed Hydroton work in a similar way to Lava in a potting mix ?
I don't know why you would want to crush the Hydroton?
We get different lava here...and the stuff we use is cinders which are shoveled out of cinder cones...with different varying degrees of air in it. Usually light, but sometimes very heavy. I sift the cinders I use, eliminating the fine stuff and keeping everything the size of a small marble (like a lima bean) or more. The big stuff I use to weigh down cuttings that want to pop out of the medium.
I was just wondering if the crushed Hydroton, ie ie, finer granules, might work in a similar way to volcanic ash in a potting mix, as its porous...........Tell you what Carol, maybe I can send you a pack of Lanzarote cinders one day, and you can compare with what you have there.......:)) It would be interesting to know any difference. Fascinating planet we live on. I think we both live on shield volcanoes,,,,,,thankfully.!!
Well...the Hydroton comes in various sizes all mixed together...and they really provide a great medium...the perlite with them works well too. Someone once suggested chopping up wine corks in the medium....broken crockery is used by some... Whatever floats our boat....eh?
How 'dormant' is your volcano, Dom? Ours isn't....we might have more cinders soon!!!
I located a source for different kinds/grades of lava rock at this site:
http://firerocks.biz/
At the moment pretty dormant...thankfully..its been 300 years since the last big one which covered/destroyed 25% of the island. We have about 130 volcanoes on a small island, they act, I think, like yours and arent necessarily dangerous, but the lava flows are destructive when they happen.I think you have the same types there....the whole island being a shield volcano and new openings occurring during any activity? Makes for very interesting topography as with very little rain, they are more or less as they were when they erupted....wonderful colours
Interesting, Dom, I didn't realize the Canaries had the shield volcano(s). We have one active one now - and we get blasted by the fumes/ash/yuck when the wind changes!!!
Hello all,
I have been lurking for a while and reading with great interest. I have been rooting cuttings in the soil/perlite mixture then putting in a ziplock bag. It has been pretty successful. My question about the Hyroton is when I do it this way, do I put in a ziplock bag with holes also for the humidity? Thanks for any insight.
The ziplock is only necessary if you want to create a very humid environment for the cutting....say it is dehydrated. I don't use it.
Okay. I will give it a go without it. Thanks!
Trish
However, it just occured to me that you are pretty dry up there...not alot of humidity, and it might be perfect for you....I would check with the other CN growers ....
I have never heard this product called by the name Hydroton, but here locally, its sold as ALIFLOR and is readily available (for pretty cheep) where orchid supplies are sold
I bought it here as Hydroton, and it was cheaper than I anticipated. I will use the ziplocks for the humidity. It is the middle of winter here and between the central heat and wood heat it gets dry.
Trish
I am trying to grow some of my more difficult hoyas totally in hydroton. So far, it has been quite successful. I have never been able to keep a H. bella alive for very long, so when the one I purchased on ebay started to look peaked, I decided to try the hydroton route. That was about 3 months ago and I now have flowers blooming! The branches are very long with leaves only on the ends, but there is a flower out there also. I also have my H. bella that is varigated in pure hydroton and it is doing extremely well, but no flowers yet. I couldn't get my H. glabra to grow in any other mixture I tried, and it is now getting more roots in the pure hydroton. This is just an experiment...hopefully it will continue to be successful.
thats good to hear suzmyers
i just got one of those huge saks of hydroton from ebay to try and do the "transistion" haa it sounds so technical;)
im excited!!
can you and others that have moved plants in soil mixes to hydrotonaliflor hydroton mixes give some advice as to how not to stress the plants too much?
jaci
I think the most important thing is to clean the roots very well of dirt if you are going the full hydroton route. I have also added hydroton to my regular mix of soil and perlite..actually have replaced the orchid bark I used to add with hydroton in many of my hoya pots. It just depends on what seems to work the best. I haven't had any problems moving the plants from one media to another, it seems hoyas are pretty tough...
I agree, Suz...it is important to wash/rinse the loose soil off...you don't want anything that might form a clog in the airpockets between the hydroton!! If the root is clinging to a clump of perlite or cinder or?...something that won't make mud...I wouldn't worry about it...
I am happy for the info on H. bella. That is one I am successful at murdering....I will change them tomorrow!!!
Has anybody tried rooting hoya cuttings in a bubbler (water, with or without added hydrogen peroxide, with an aquarium air pump fizzing bubbles up into the water)?
I'm also wondering if I could use perlite, without the hydroponic clay bits, for rooting cuttings? Or before I jump into the co-op, should I make sure to have some hydroponic medium on hand?
I've been looking through old threads on this forum, but I can't tell if there's a general or "suggested newbie method" for rooting cuttings.
Thanks for all the info being shared here!
